


That Time Thomas Met Jimmy's Mother

by raelee514



Series: Right Next Door [2]
Category: Downton Abbey
Genre: It is Awkward, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-27
Updated: 2017-09-29
Packaged: 2019-01-06 01:34:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12201249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raelee514/pseuds/raelee514
Summary: From the Right Next Door Universe:  Thomas meets Jimmy's mother.~~~“You fixed my husband’s watch.”He nodded.“Jimmy went on and on about how impressive that was… he wouldn’t shut up.”Thomas blushed.“It was quite old?  Older than we thought?”“Yes.”“Well, thank you…  I take it you did not charge him.”“No,”  Thomas shook his head. “Really, working on it was an amazing challenge so…”“It had nothing to do with your sexual interest in my son?”





	1. Chapter 1

Thomas groaned as his watch made an atrocious sound from Jimmy’ nightstand. He rolled over and reached for it but only managed to knock it further away. What was he thinking with that sound? Why were people buying it? He reached for it again and knocked it onto the floor. Swearing he rolled out of the bed and fell onto his knees but he finally grabbed it and felt triumphant. He shut it off and found himself glaring at the time. 

Ten o’clock?

Ten o’clock? 

He turned to yell at Jimmy and realized that he was alone. He was alone in Jimmy’s bedroom. His mouth opened a bit as he stared at the empty bed in confusion. Then he noticed a piece of paper on a pillow and he sat down on the bed and grabbed it. 

_Sybbie is at the Crawley’s. There was no reason for you to get up the crack of dawn. So, I changed your alarm. You’re welcome for the extra sleep. I get out of work at 3… Alfred and Andy work even later. So stay. Relax. Don’t go into work. It’s fucking Sunday and you don’t have to. DON’T._

A flicker of anger came and went. He fell back onto the bed, his head hitting Jimmy’s pillow and not his own. He ended up inhaling and smiling as the scents of summer and ink hit his nostrils. Last night Jimmy’s pen had broken, leaking everywhere as Jimmy worked on a composition he was doing for his classic guitar class. Ink was on his clothes, all over his papers and Thomas hopped up to try to help him minimize the mess. But somehow he ended up with ink all over himself and then they’d ended up in the shower, then the bed…

Thomas laughed and frowned as he leaned up and saw ink was on the pillowcase. What a mess and he looked down and saw that there were smudges of blue on his boxers. He hopped up and went into the bathroom. Their clothes were everywhere and he saw another note on the mirror. 

_Yeah. Ink everywhere. Sorry about your tie._

Thomas looked down and saw that his tie was on the sink. It was a pale gray and now it was a pale gray with ink smudges. Another flicker of anger came and went. It was just a tie and he laughed because he knew that argument wouldn’t work at any other time. It only worked now because of Jimmy. He turned around and shifted through the clothes and found his pair of black jeans, which were only distinguishable from Jimmy’s because the brand was more expensive. He hopped into them and thought happily that even they were ink smudged he couldn’t tell because the denim was a dark black. 

His shirt, on the other hand, was a pale blue and he looked it up and down and wondered at how it wasn’t smudged with ink at all. It was probably a miracle he thought and he pulled it on but didn’t bother buttoning it up. Instead, he gathered up Jimmy’s clothes. His red t-shirt was covered in smudges as were the white boxers. Thomas sighed and thought if he wasn’t going to be working he might as well do something productive. He grabbed the dirty clothes and went to the hamper in Jimmy’s room. Shoved them in and then carried it down the stairs. Jimmy and his roommates had a washer and dryer in their basement. 

He was halfway down the stairs when the doorbell rang and startled him. He tripped, let go of the hamper as he grabbed for the walls to stop himself from falling and he watched the hamper fall front forward and slid down the stairs all the clothes spilling from it as it went. 

“Bloody perfect,” he thought and hurried down the steps and started to grab at the clothes. But the doorbell rang again and he rolled his eyes. Who the hell was here at this time? All of them were at work? Probably was someone telling to sell roofing or religion. Maybe they’d just go away but the doorbell rang a third time just as Thomas was beginning to realize Jimmy pulled off quite a feat in shoving about a months worth of clothes into one hamper. 

He left the hamper and the pile of clothes at the foot of the staircase and opened the door. A woman, probably in her late fifties stood at the door. She was carrying a box and her purse was on top of the box. She looked him up and down. “I don’t know you? Are you new?”

“Excuse me?”

“Have you taken the fourth room? Or bed? I never remember the setup this place… I really rather Jimmy wasn’t spending more than he can chew. I’m Miriam Kent, his mother? You are the new roommate?” 

Thomas opened and closed his mouth. Apparently, it didn’t matter he couldn’t find a way to answer her because she barreled right past him, making him jump a bit so she wouldn’t step on his toes. “Um…”

“I’ve brought a cake, though honestly he’s working two jobs and classes he’s probably forgotten his own birthday.”

“It’s his birthday?”

“Twenty-six…. Oy, I am not that old. Forget I told you his age and if anyone asks I’m 35,” she winked at him and set the box down on the counter. “I’m just dropping things off, just go about your business… oh what is your name?”

“It’s his birthday?” Thomas echoed. 

“He hasn’t told you? Well, you are new and honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if he forgot. He’s at the third job today isn’t he…”

“Um… yeah…” Thomas stammered. 

“Your name?”

“Uh, Thomas.”

“You’re older aren’t you… divorced?” she asked.

“What? No.” 

“Oh, well that’s good….” She gave him another look and then turned around. She pulled what looked like a chocolate cake out of the basket and then a series of wrapped presents. 

Thomas stared at them and felt like an idiot. Had even thought to ask Jimmy when his birthday was? Had told Jimmy when his birthday way? Twenty-six…. He knew Jimmy’s age was around it but not for sure — it was simpler not to think about their age difference if he didn’t know the numbers. But it was his birthday? He looked at the time.

“What a mess? What happened?” she was over at the pile of clothes. “Is this ink?” she grabbed the boxers but then she looked at the clothes and back at Thomas. “Um… my son isn’t forcing you to do his laundry, is he? He is such a loafer that boy… lazy as it gets.” 

“What? No… I was just…” Thomas sputtered. 

“What?”

“I was…going to do it for him.” 

“Whatever for?” she stared at him. 

“Well….” 

“And aren’t you catching a draft?” she suddenly asked. 

“A draft…” Thomas looked down and felt himself blush. He had forgotten he hadn’t buttoned up the shirt. Instantly his fingers flew to the buttons and he turned away from her. 

“Is that ink?” she said and he turned to see her behind him looking at the back of the shirt. Apparently, he missed a smudge. 

“Is it?”

“Yes…” she looked at the boxers in her hand. 

Thomas went to the pile of clothes and started to try to shove them all into the hamper. They’d come out they could go back in. 

“Just who are you, again?” 

Thomas sighed. 

“You aren’t a roommate are you?”

He stood up and turned toward her. “No, I’m…” he paused and faltered. What was he? He and Jimmy hadn’t discussed this…. All their attempts at dates had been disasters. Whatever they were doing was going on six months and Thomas was hoping for six more. But they didn’t discuss it. 

“How old are you?” 

“Um…” fuck how old was he? 

“I need a drink,” she muttered and went back into the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator and pulled out a pitcher of a pink liquid. “What is this?”

“Lemonade, I think…” 

“Really?” she sniffed it. “Well, it’s too early for a real one anyway. What is your name?”

“Thomas. Barrow. Thomas Barrow.” 

“And how old would you be, Thomas Barrow?”

“Uh…”

“I’m quite sure you know your age.”

“Not usually before coffee…” he muttered. 

“Oh, well then…” she turned around and went about making him coffee with Alfred’s machine. 

“Uh… thanks.”

“What is it you do, Thomas Barrow?”

“Well… I own E. B. Watchmakers.” 

She blinked. 

He shrugged.

“You own... Wait, I spoke to you on the phone.”

He nodded.

“You fixed my husband’s watch.”

He nodded. 

“Jimmy went on and on about how impressive that was… he wouldn’t shut up.” 

Thomas blushed. 

“It was quite old? Older than we thought?”

“Yes.”

“Well, thank you… I take it you did not charge him.”

“No,” Thomas shook his head. “Really, working on it was an amazing challenge so…”

“It had nothing to do with your sexual interest in my son?”

Thomas turned red and he wanted to bolt and run. He could, the sliding door wasn’t that far away and tom would probably be in the kitchen to let him inside. But he felt frozen in place. “That’s not… I mean we… I…” he blew out a long stream of air. 

His phone went off and he jumped. Surprised to realize it was on the counter and that it was ringing. But it was a wondrous sound and it meant he could move away from Miriam Kent’s stare. He grabbed and frowned a bit when he saw it was Mary Crawley. “Hello?”

“She won’t listen to me,” Mary barked. 

“And?” Thomas asked.

“And we need to get going if we’re going to get the matinee of the play on time.”

“You’re taking her to play?” Thomas sighed.

“What else would I do?”

“A movie would be better received.”

“Well maybe _you_ don’t want her raised with class but I do.” 

“Me. I’m not the problem there Mary and you know it… I just know what she likes.” 

“It’s Little Women, she’ll enjoy it.”

“Whatever, I don’t know what you think I can do on the phone.”

“Tell her to behave.”

“You’ve gotta to be the one to tell her that.”

“She’s not listening.”

“Why the hell did you call me?”

“Tom didn’t answer.”

Thomas rolled his eyes. “Sybil wouldn’t care you know…”

“Well, I do.” 

“Fine put her on…” he sighed and wondered how the hell he was supposed to make Sybbie behave if he wasn’t in front of her to punish her for not. 

“Thomas?” 

He grinned instantly at her voice. “Aunt Mary said you’re going to a play.”

“She wants me to wear a stupid dress.”

That was the problem. “Why is it stupid?”

“It’s a dress. I wanna wear Wonder Woman.” 

She was living as Wonder Woman and both he and Tom decided it wasn’t worth arguing with her about. They picked their battles and this hurt no one and gave her some freedom of expression. “Sybbie?”

“Yeah.”

“I love you, behave for your Aunt Mary okay?”

“I don’t wanna wear it,” Sybbie pouted.

“I know little one. Give the phone back to Aunt Mary.”

“Well?” he heard a moment later.

“Let her wear her Wonder Woman outfit.”

“To a play!”

“Yes.” 

“Thomas…”

“Let her wear it or have a crabby kid the rest of the day, Mary.”

“Ugh… fine.” 

Thomas ended the conversation and pinched the bridge of his nose. He had a headache. 

“Wonder woman?” 

He jumped and cursed. 

Miriam Kent started laughing but she shook her head. “I apologize.” 

“My daughter lives in her Wonder Woman outfit, her Aunt thought wrongfully she could make her wear something else…”

“Jimmy keeps mentioning a little girl, he calls he Wonder Woman.”

“He’s her biggest ally…” Thomas felt the wave of warmth that always hit him in the chest when he thought about Jimmy and Sybbie’s relationship. 

“I see.” She turned back to the coffee maker, grabbed the cup and handed it over to him.

He took it and walked behind her to get to the milk. 

“You and he are dating?”

“No, we’re quite awful at that…” he laughed. 

“What?”

“It’s nothing we just…are.” 

“You and my son just are?”

“That sounded better in my head,” he mumbled and took his first amazing sip of the coffee. 

“I see.” 

“Thirty-four,” he said because it was pointless to not tell her.

“And with a …” 

“She’s five.” 

“I see.” 

Thomas gulped down more coffee. 

“Is there a reason he hasn’t told me about you?”

“I honestly couldn’t tell you.”

“But you know he hasn’t…”

“Yes.” 

“And you’re fine with that?”

“Um….” Thomas hoped one day he could put this much fear into whomever Sybbie might bring home to him. 

“Have you told your mother about him?”

“My mother…. Is um not in the picture.” 

“Oh. I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It’s for the best.” 

“And your ex? You daughter’s mother?”

“My daughter’s mother is dead… and um, I’m raising her with her father. It’s unorthodox but it was what her mother wanted.” 

“You raising another person’s child as your own?” 

“She is my own,” he snapped. 

“I see.” 

His cellphone went off again and Thomas grabbed at it. Even talking with Mary looked good about now. It was text from Jimmy. _Don’t you dare do the laundry. RELAX._

Thomas stared at it in awe and started smiling like a loon before he could stop it. How did he know him so well? He started laughing though because how could he relax. It was impossible. He put the phone down and looked up to see Miriam Kent staring at him as she drank some lemonade. 

“Was that from my son?”

“Yeah.” 

“May I see it?”

“What? No.” 

“What did it say?”

“He wants me to relax.”

“Well, that sounds like Jimmy.” 

Thomas rolled his eyes. “I work a lot.”

“You own a company… Have you talked to him about the importance of hard work?”

Thomas frowned. 

“Never mind. Anyway, I was just going to drop this stuff off but now I guess I’m staying.”

“What? Why?”

“I need to speak with my son.”

“He won’t be home until 3.”

“Well it gives us more time to talk.”

“Well… I mean, I should go home.”

“Where do you live?”

“Next door…” he pointed at the wall. 

“You live next door?”

“It’s how we met, kind of… Sybbie walked in his open door.”

“He left a door open….” Miriam Kent sighed. 

“Well, I let a 4 year old outside without knowing.”

“They never grow out of that…” 

Thomas laughed. 

“I’m staying.” 

“Yeah… I think I’ll go…”

“I would rather you stay and we got to know each other better.”

“I’m not sure… I mean Jimmy hasn’t mentioned me and so…”

“All the more reason.”

“It’s just that..”

“Your daughter is with your sister, you said…”

“Mary is not my sister,” he shouted.

“Oh.”

“Sybbie’s mother’s sister.”

“Ah, I see.”

I see. He was beginning to hate those words.

“How long have you and Jimmy been seeing each other?”

“Six months.”

She dropped her glass of lemonade and the glass shattered making her jump backward. Thomas started forward but she put out her hand. “You have on no shoes…” 

He looked down at his feet and rolled his eyes. “I’ll go get them…” he ran up the stairs and into Jimmy’s room. He found his shoes by the foot of the bed and stuffed his feet into them. Then he looked at the door and pondered the idea of closing it and locking it. Keeping something between him and that woman… well not that woman.

She seemed. Well maternal. Something he was not at all used too unless he counted Sybil. But that hadn’t been maternal, that had been like having a sister. Younger and older all at once. He sighed. She would be laughing her fool head off right now and ordering him to go back downstairs. So, like he always did, he listened to Sybil. 

He hurried down the stairs and bent down to help Miriam pick up the glass. She made quite a pile but there were still shards. “Do they have a vacuum?”

“I believe so,” Thomas shrugged and looked around the apartment. It was quite clean and organized given three men in their twenties lived in it. “I’m pretty sure they do.” 

“I’ll look.” 

Thomas kept gathering a pile of glass on the paper towel she’d put down as he heard her open and shut doors. 

“Do they have enough beer,” she muttered as she closed one door and then opened the door to the basement. 

Thomas threw away the glass and then looked around to make sure they hadn’t missed any bigger shards. He grabbed some paper towels and started cleaning off the pink liquid off of everything and jumped — for the billionth time that day when the vacuum turned on. He hurried out of her way and watched her vacuum everything up with precise efficiency. He was impressed despite himself and leaned against the counter, reached for his coffee and realized he finished it. 

“So… um. You said you and Jimmy have been for six months?”

He nodded.

“My Jimmy…. Five ten, blonde, ridiculously charming?”

Thomas grinned and nodded. 

“Jimmy Kent? Impulsive, never thinks…”

“Yes.”

“My son?”

Thomas nodded.

“With one person for six months?”

Thomas grinned. 

“And you didn’t know it was his birthday?” 

He jumped — again — at her swift change in tone. “Uh…no.”

“And why not?”

“It just… he doesn’t know mine either.”

“And that makes overlooking something like that better?”

“Just we… we aren’t… we haven’t… defined anything.”

“It’s been six months why the hell not?”

“Our schedules don’t really give us a lot of time…” Thomas ran a hand down his face. 

“But you’re here.”

“What?”

“you're here, waiting for him — doing his laundry,” she pointed to the pile of clothes. 

“Well, uh… yeah.” He felt sheepish and thought about Jimmy’s text. 

“Well…” she went to the counter and grabbed her purse. “I’m letting him know I am here.”

Thomas was relieved when he saw that she was texting and not calling. He went to the coffee maker and decided he needed more coffee. And maybe a belief in a god or something, so he could pray his way out of this mess. This wasn’t at all how he thought he’d meet Jimmy’s mother. This was not at all a good impression. He wanted to make a good impression. He wanted to make a good impression. It felt hard to breathe. When had he ever cared what someone else thought about him…

Well, Jimmy. Maybe Sybil. 

Sybbie… but that was different. 

He stared at the coffee marker and willed it to brew faster. His phone dinged and he pulled it out of his back pocket.

_My mum is there?_

_Yeah._

_RUN FOR IT._

Thomas chuckled. _It’s too late for that._

_Fuck._

_That covers it._

_What have you told her?_

_My age. My job. How long we’ve… Been._

_I don’t even know your age…_

_You never mentioned today is your birthday_

_Today is the 7th?_

Thomas laughed. _This is cute._

_Me forgetting my own birthday is cute._

_Yeah._

_I wouldn’t but been so stupid busy…_

_We should do something._

“Is that my son.”

Thomas let out a yelp and swore. He twirled toward her and glared. “Would you stop doing that?”

“Is it my fault you are jumpy?”

“Yes.”

“Pfft. Please tell my son to respond to my text.” 

He sighed. _She’d like you to text her._

_Ugh. Yeah. You haven’t been doing the laundry have you?_

Thomas grinned. _No comment._

_I told you. Relax._

_That is quite impossible. Text her. She is glaring._

_I told you to run._

Thomas put his phone down on the counter and decided to continue with his plan to do the laundry. He went over to the hamper and shoved what he could into it and took it down into the basement. He hurried back up and grabbed the clothes that he couldn’t fit into it and walked down the stairs with them. Then he went about sorting them out a slowly as he could manage. Before he put a load into the washer. Then he said and supposed he really couldn’t hide the entire time Jimmy was gone. He walked back upstairs and found her in the living room, sitting on the couch and looking at a tablet. He walked behind the couch to look over her shoulder. She was looking at a picture of the three of them. Him, Jimmy and Sybbie. He tried to place when it could’ve been taken and by who? “Whose tablet is that?” he said without thought.

Miriam Kent shrieked and jumped to her feet, turning toward him, her hand on her chest. “Don’t do that.”

He just smirked at her feeling vindicated. 

“It’s Ivy’s. Like her to leave something so expensive somewhere else… she’s as bad as Jimmy.”

“Oh… makes sense.”

“So, this is your daughter?” 

Thomas nodded and grinned. 

“And that is my son.”

“Yeah.”

“He’s reading to her?”

“She likes his voices,” Thomas shrugged. 

“She likes…. My son is good with kids?”

“Yeah.”

“My son.”

“We covered this.”

“It’s still trying to sink in.”

Thomas shrugged.

“Well…. Let’s get started.”

“Started?”

“I want to know everything about you, Thomas Barrow.”

He gulped and looked at the time. It was only noon. Well, fuck.


	2. Chapter 2

“I want to know everything about you, Thomas Barrow.” 

He gulped and looked at the time. It was only noon. Well, fuck. She was sitting on the couch looking at him with intent. He never felt this uncomfortable in his life. He was sure of it — none of his past relationships. All two of them included meeting a parent in quite this way. It was never part of the package, and he supposed in a way it was odd and he finally going through some strange rite of passage. He could do with somehow managing to skip it. 

“No need to look so nervous. I just want to know about the man my son has apparently been seeing for half a year.”

Half a year. When put that way it felt like forever, and his heart thudded in his chest because it wasn’t enough either. He wanted more, he wanted all of Jimmy’s time. He looked away from Miriam Kent, and his eyes fell onto Ivy’s tablet that was still on the coffee table. The picture of him, Jimmy and Sybbie. Jimmy was reading to her, so she was in his lap, and Thomas was behind them, arm slung around Jimmy, his hand on Sybbie’s head. He wondered again when Ivy took it and he felt like he needed a hard copy so he could frame it. 

“I never thought he would be good with children.”

“I don’t think he did either,” Thomas laughed. “Sybbie loves him.”

“Does she?” Miriam Kent pinned him with her eyes.

He nodded. “She….” He laughed. “Thinks he’s her best friend.” 

Miriam Kent laughed. “I mean he’s mentioned her… I just thought she was the neighbor's cute kid and he was telling silly stories…”

“I’m sure they’re silly….” Thomas said knowing how often his daughter made Jimmy fall into giggles. 

“Hmmm…. Your family is important to you?”

“Sybbie is.” 

“And her father? Is he important to you?”

Thomas shook his head. “He’s straight, and even if he wasn’t, he’s not my type. We have… an interesting relationship but our priority is her.”

“Interesting how?” 

“It’s…. Complicated. We wouldn’t be anything if it weren’t for Sybil and Sybbie.”

“Sybil is her mother?”

Thomas nodded. 

“I take it she has passed away?”

Thomas nodded. 

“And you were made her daughter’s guardian how?”

“Dying wish…” Thomas shook his head. “It was important to her.”

“Why?”

“I suspect she didn’t want me to end up alone,” he heard himself say, shocking himself. He never admitted that out loud before why was he now.

“And why would she think you’d end up alone?” Miriam Kent, her eyes suddenly even more piercing than they already were. 

Thomas felt his spine go rigid and he clenched his jaw. He wasn’t okay with this turn of conversation, but he opened the damn door himself. He sighed and looked away from her. “I keep to myself…” he said.

“And?”

He shook his head. “It’s that.”

“No, no it’s not.”

“I don’t like most people,” he said. “I don’t… Socialize or at all.”

“Yet you’re with my son.” 

“He’s different,” Thomas said. “Like Sybil was…” 

“I see…” she looked at the picture on the tablet. “Why?”

“Why what?”

“Is my son different?”

Thomas sputtered and shook his head. The first things to occur him being about how beautiful he found him. He was endlessly beautiful and unfairly handsome, and it sounded superficial. “I don’t think…”

“What? You can’t tell me what it is about my son you find special?” she asked in a hard tone.

“I… he’s… I mean… Jimmy is…” Thomas stammered and decided he needed to reevaluate the impression of himself as articulate. He flailed looking for words that fit how he felt, but he kept coming up with nothing but the word beautiful. 

“You like his youth?”

He frowned at her focus on their age difference. “That’s not it…” he shook his head. “I noticed it. It was hard to miss but…”

“But?”

“We… there was… I knew him.”

“Knew him?” she narrowed her eyes.

He blushed and tried to find a word for how he felt. It wasn’t embarrassment but something else. He tried to deny that he fell for Jimmy at first sight because it sounded too much like a romance novel. It wasn’t realistic and he considered himself a realistic man. But then again it was Jimmy, and he always pushed Thomas in unexpected directions. 

“Well?” 

He looked at her and clenched his jaw so he wouldn’t snap — he wanted to make a good impression, and he was sure he was failing that because it was throwing him. Caring what people thought of him was foreign and he only cared because she was Jimmy’s mother. “I can’t…” he sighed. 

A tap from behind him made him yelp. He spun around and saw Tom standing on Jimmy’s deck. Relief flooded him. He was saved. He jumped from the couch and opened the door. Tom stepped in and looked over his shoulder at Miriam Kent. Thomas held back enough, so he could stand behind Tom, and he refused to think about the fact he was trying to hide from the woman in the room. 

“Hello?” Tom said to her.

“This is Jimmy’s mother,” Thomas said pointedly.

Tom glanced at him, and his expression changed to understanding but also mirth. The bastard, Thomas thought. “This is Tom.”

“Miriam Kent. So, you’re the father?”

Tom nodded and grinned. “Yes, I’m Sybbie’s father.”

“And what do you make of my son’s relationship with her?” 

“I… um…” Tom looked at Thomas.

“You trust him?”

“I…well, Thomas does…” 

“My son is quite young.”

“I guess…” Tom said.

“What do you make of him and Thomas?”

“They give me cavities,” Tom laughed. 

Thomas glared at him.

“What?”

“It’s quite annoying to be around them. They forget everyone else exists… well except for Sybbie but then my daughter is exceptional.” 

“I see…” but Thomas noticed she shook her head like she didn’t understand at all. She was looking at him again and then looked away. “Tell me about Thomas, Tom.”

“What?” Tom asked.

“I’m trying to get to know him, but he seems reticence, what can you tell me of the man that is with my son…”

Thomas didn’t like the emphasis he heard on man — it was the age difference, or was it her underestimation of Jimmy’s maturity? It was starting to piss him off. 

“He never talks about himself,” Tom said. “But it was obvious he wanted — I mean lov-liked Jimmy straight away. If that’s what you mean?”

“No, I want to know what kind of man he is?”

“Thomas?” 

“Is there someone other man with my son that you know about?”

“Of course not, I think they’re….” Thomas hit him in the shoulder not wanting him to finish that sentence. Not wanting to hear anyone define them before they did it themselves. “Ow…” Tom glared at him.

“They’re what…”

“It’s not really your business,” Thomas said.

“It’s nothing bad,” Tom said. “They’re a good match.”

“Are they?”

“Well, yes…” Tom said.

“Why?”

“Um…” Tom faltered and looked at Thomas but stared at him blankly.

“What is it about my son you think Thomas is drawn to…”

Tom turned pink and looked at Thomas. Thomas glared at him to not say what he was thinking. Tom looked behind him at the door. “You know I should leave….”

“Wait!” Thomas yelled. “Why did you come by?”

“Oh… just wanted to remind you that I’m picking up Sybbie at 8.” 

“Right.”

“And Mary called and left a message, she’s being a little monster.”

Thomas nodded. “Mary tried to get her out of her Wonder Woman costume.”

Tom shook his head and nodded at the same time. “Well, then I’ll go…”

“No,” Thomas yelled. 

Tom looked at him and laughed. “No, I’m going.”

“Branson…” Thomas hissed and followed him onto the deck. “Don’t you dare leave me with that woman,” he whispered. 

Tom laughed again.

“It’s not funny.”

“Oh, it’s funny, your face is priceless. Wish I had my phone.”

“You can’t leave me with her. She’s a pitbull.”

“That she is… reminds me a bit of Sybil.”

“She is nothing like Sybil.”

“Oh, I think she is…” Tom said and patted Thomas on the shoulder. “Go on, she’s his mother, and we both know how important he is to you.”

Thomas blushed and looked away. He hated being so obvious, but it seemed he couldn’t hide his feelings about Jimmy. 

“Just tell her the truth.”

“What truth?”

“You love him,” Tom said bluntly. 

“I…” Thomas nodded. 

“You have from minute one.”

“And that sounds foolish,” Thomas snapped.

“How I felt about Sybil…” Tom said wistfully.

Thomas sighed. 

“Go back in.” 

“I need a moment longer.”

“Well, I’m not your excuse,” Tom said, and he took off down the steps.

Thomas felt extreme jealousy as he watched Tom make the escape he couldn’t and he took a few deep breaths and realized he was on the edge of panic. He was not equipped for this, and he glanced through the glass door and saw her typing something into her cell phone. Paranoia took hold as he thought she was saying something unfavorable about to him to someone. He stood up straighter and told himself he could do this. He could do this for Jimmy. He walked back inside. 

“I’ll get straight to it…” Miriam Kent said. “I think you’re too old for him.”

Maybe Tom was right, and she was like Sybil. Sybil was a straight shooter and could be blunt — but it was always curbed by her kindness. Miriam Kent wasn’t exhibiting much kindness, but then this was about her son. Thomas could picture the mama bear Sybil could’ve been if life gave her the chance. He walked into the room and up to where Miriam Kent stood. 

She raised an eyebrow at him waiting for him to reply.

“I know,” Thomas said in a clipped tone. “Obviously, I disagree.”

“He’s still a child.”

“A child doesn’t work three jobs so he can create the life he wants.” 

“And what life does he want… thinking he’ll be a rock star.”

“And again you underestimate him.”

“I know my son.”

“No, you don’t…” Thomas snapped. 

“Excuse me?”

“You see your kid…not the man.” 

She stared at him then suddenly turned away. “And just what makes him a man?”

“Everything,” Thomas said.

“I don’t think you’re seeing him,” she argued.

“I don’t think you are.”

“You didn’t know it was his birthday and I’m supposed to think this is serious and not about sex?”

“It’s not about sex,” Thomas snapped. “It’s… about everything else.” 

“Is it?”

“Yes. I love him.” 

Her mouth opened. “It seems strange to me that could be true. I didn’t know about you. You don’t know his birthday.”

“It’s a date on a calendar it’s not who he is… and I know who he is.”

“Really and that is?”

“The guy who calls my daughter Wonder Woman and watches cartoons with her, and has twice now spent hours with her keeping an eye out because she was sick. He’s the guy who can easily spend two hours working on one line of music for the song he’s composing. He is the guy who works three jobs so he can live where he wishes and carry on with his classes since his parents aren’t helping out — because he’s not serious about his life. Which he bloody well is.” 

Miriam Kent staggered and looked stunned. She opened and closed her mouth a few times and then seemed to deflate. “That does not sound like my son.”

“Then you need to get to know him,” he shouted. It hit him that wasn’t making a good impression, but her words and willful blindness to the man her son was irritating. Staying quiet became something that was not an option. He couldn’t continue to let her paint Jimmy as some immature child who wasn’t old enough to decide his own life. 

“He’s twenty-six,” she said as if that explained everything.

“A man,” Thomas said. 

She looked down at her fingernails again and started to worry her bottom lip. Thomas felt a sense of satisfaction, he had her on the defense now, and he felt like he was finally breathing easier. 

“You asked why he was different…. I just told you,” he said. 

“I see…” she said quietly, but Thomas wasn’t so sure she did. 

There was a sudden clatter behind her and Jimmy flew into the living room like he was running at warp drive. He stopped just short of plowing his mother down and looked at the two of them with wide eyes that were darting back and forth between them. Like he was unsure who to speak to first but his eyes finally landed on Thomas, and his expression told Thomas he was here to try to rescue him and it was positively beautiful. 

“Mum…” Jimmy said though he was still looking at Thomas. “You really should call first.”

Miriam Kent turned on her son. “It is your birthday.”

“I realize that, but you should call first. I wasn’t even home.”

“But you have company nonetheless…” she shot a look at Thomas.

“He doesn’t really count as company.”

“Oh, really, is he moving in then.”

“What? Of course not he wouldn’t move away from Sybbie. I’d move in with him…” Thomas felt his cheeks redden as he watched Jimmy’s face turn pink at the implications of what he said settled down around the room.

“Move in…” Miriam Kent exclaimed with a shake of her head. 

“What of it,” Jimmy countered. “We’re not breaking up…” he looked at Thomas. “Ever.”

Thomas couldn’t stop the grin as he nodded in agreement. 

“I see.”

Jimmy groaned. “Yeah, right.”

“Don’t take that tone with me.”

“What tone? You stopped by uninvited.”

“And you’ve been lying to me for half a year. Not one word about being in a relationship.”

“I wasn’t ready to share.”

“And what does that mean?”

“I wasn’t ready to share him with anyone… including you… no, especially you cause I knew you’d freak out about his age.”

“I do not freak out. You have to see it’s an issue.”

“No, I don’t.”

“You don’t even know how old he is, do you?”

“I don’t care,” Jimmy shouted. 

“Have you given this any thought?”

“Tons of it,” Jimmy said. “Everyday, I think about him and what he means to me.” 

Thomas gasped. 

Jimmy shot him a bit of an embarrassed look but then looked at his mom. “Look, Mum… this is real okay, and maybe I shouldn’t have avoided telling you. But he’s not going anywhere.” 

She deflated and glanced at Thomas. He felt another wave of terror at her, his heart pounding as he realized he cared if she liked him or not. And he probably made that impossible given he’d given her a lecture about who Jimmy was. To his mother. 

“It’s clear that both your feelings are strong… And as soon as possible the two of you are coming over to the flat to have dinner. Your father and I will meet Thomas properly. Understand?” 

Jimmy looked Thomas, and he nodded. A bit of relief hit him. Inviting him over didn’t seem to indicate he’d ruined anything? Maybe he hadn’t? 

“Yeah, we will, Mum.”

She nodded. “Walk me to my car.”

Jimmy sighed but nodded. 

Thomas watched them leave and bent over a little bit. Feeling like he was learning how to breathe again because he was pretty sure he’d been afraid to the entire she’d been inside. He flopped down on the couch and closed his eyes. He didn’t open them until he felt Jimmy’s hands on his shoulder’s. He leaned his head back and looked up at him. 

“She said you shouted at her about not knowing me.”

Thomas froze worried but he nodded.

Jimmy grinned.

“It’s not a good thing.”

“She invited you over for dinner and didn’t say anything about you being wrong for me…. It’s not a bad thing.”

“I don’t know about that,” Thomas sighed. 

Jimmy bent down and kissed him. The contact made all his muscles relax, and he kissed him back. The angle was strange, but it didn’t stop the kiss from flying through him and heating him up. Like always. 

“We’ve been together half a year,” Jimmy said as the broke apart. He hopped over the back of the couch to sit down next to him. 

“Yes,” Thomas agreed.

“I guess we should admit we’re in a relationship.”

Thomas laughed. “I don’t think we weren’t admitting.”

“I know…” Jimmy grinned at him. “Just you know, maybe we should define things a bit…”

“A bit.”

“I love you,” Jimmy whispered.

Thomas leaned in and kissed him, then whispered against his lips. “And I love you.”

“And survived my mother.”

“So far.”

“So far,” Jimmy laughed.


End file.
